cakap cakap...Life.

My wife is well. It is just past 10 am here in Melbourne and I have been hammering away at my keyboard for a good part of the morning ...and for the past twenty minutes, my wife has been awake. And as is usually her habit when she is awake and lying in her bed, she constantly looks at me as I work on my blog. I do not know what is in her mind as she looks my way but I know she knows it is me because when I wave her way, even though she does not smile, there is in her face some recognition that I am not just a stranger. I would like to think that she does remembers me as the one who has been in her life since she was 23 and me 21...since many many years ago in the swinging 60's in London.  

Today we are both past 70. Sometimes on my bad days, we become a pair of invalid cared for by my son....lying in bed next to each other. During the time when she could still understand what I said and talked back to me....we always had a good laugh with each other when we both lie in bed unwell and unwilling to do anything else but rest in bed. These days I take to my bed anytime I feel tired physically and mentally...acutely aware that at 70, rest is a necessity if I am to be able to function in any useful way for  my wife and for me....but all said and done...life is good

I sometimes wonder what goes on in her head as my wife sits for hours and hours in her favourite chair in the living room. As she sits there I find myself looking at her in wonderment as I think that at 70 not only are we together, but that we also have each other for everyday of our lives. We do not have to worry about having a roof over our head, about having food on the table nor are we in need of any of the necessities of life. And we are not just waiting for our lives to be over....not waiting or preparing for death....we live and enjoy life. No regrets. Nothing we want to do next month or next year...we live each day, month and years as they come. 

So there is no wonder why I like staying at home more often then going out. 

My wife has gone back to sleep. 

I have just put on another load of washing into the washing machine - the second one this morning. Two loads of washing a day is the new normal for us now....anything else would mean there will be a backlog of washing to be done by the third day. So religiously I do the two loads of washing a day, everyday! No problems with ironing because I have stopped doing any ironing for at least a year now. All non iron shirts and the trousers fall into shape after a day wear. Everything else is drip dry and use. 

Our cat Lea of almost over 15 years died last week. She just got tired and old and just passed away one morning under the coffee table beside my wife's favourite chair. I cried. We got her as kitten in Perth, brought her back to KL, then back to Adelaide, then back to KL and then back to Adelaide and then over to Melbourne a few years back. A much travelled cat and a much loved pet. No...I have decided that we will not get another Cat to fill the void because having a Cat is a responsibility I am just not prepared to undertake at 70...but she and us, have had a good run together all these years.

The Summer fruit season has begun in earnest. Watermelons, Peaches, Nectarines, Plums and Apricots are in abundance at prices you cannot resists....and my son is the one who turns them into juices on a regular basis. When I am feeling industrious I will cut the watermelons into eatable chunks and cool them in the fridge for snacks on a need basis. 

Already I venture out in singlets and slippers during the day when it can get as hot as K Hell... but as soon as the sun goes down, it is winter again....but after five years in Melbourne, we know Melbourne as well as we do know K Hell. All that  K Hell has, we can find in Melbourne....except for the Kambing and Chicken curry puffs as good as the ones I got from See Kee in Bukit Bintang! 

       

It is past 11 am now and there are things to be done in and around the house...not the least of which is Lunch! I am thinking of Chicken Wings fried in Kunyit with Basmati Rice...but that would mean I would have to go to the supermarket to get the Chicken Wings...and I am too lazy to do so now. Maybe this evening. Until then I will do what I must to keep life on an even keel and maybe try to write about something else other then that Idris guy and the IGP.